In April 2022, there was a surprising announcement that Elon Musk, the billionaire co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX, had become Twitter’s largest shareholder and joined its board. This news caught Twitter’s own employees off guard, leaving them curious about Musk’s intentions. Jim Redmond, a systems engineer in the San Francisco office, discovered the news on Twitter like his colleagues. Despite reservations, he found Musk intriguing rather than categorizing him as a villain or a hero, as he states in the podcast “Flipping the Bird: Elon vs Twitter”. However, just a week later, Musk revealed that he wouldn’t be joining the board and would instead make an offer to take the company private. This announcement set the stage for a remarkable series of events that unfolded over the following year, involving boardrooms, courtrooms, and online conversations, all of which put the future of Twitter and its employees at risk.
“Flipping the Bird” delves into the takeover in great detail, relying on testimonies from tech commentators and former Twitter employees who witnessed the chaos. Hosted by David Brown, the series is the creation of the team behind the 2020 podcast “WeCrashed”, which told the story of the collapse of the unicorn business WeWork, and the ongoing series “Business Wars” that explores major corporate battles such as Amazon vs Walmart, Marvel vs DC, and Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun.
Like its predecessors, “Flipping the Bird” is fast-paced and polished, delivering its story with an irreverent tone. The storytelling carries a sense of excitement as we learn about the aftermath of the takeover: a massive wave of layoffs resulted in the firing of around 3,700 employees, equivalent to half of the workforce, while another 1,200 employees chose to resign. Management even resorted to sending desperate emails urging the resigned employees to reconsider. Reports circulated of employees stranded in the company’s parking garages as their office access was revoked, and the hashtag #RIPTwitter spread across the platform.
Undoubtedly, the main attraction of this story is Elon Musk himself. He has a reputation for showing up late to tech conferences, engaging in late-night Twitter arguments with his critics, and making a theatrical entrance to Twitter’s head office by carrying a sink, accompanied by a cheesy pun announcing his takeover: “Let that sink in.”
However, the podcast’s flawed approach becomes evident when it comes to its depiction of Musk. He is portrayed as unpredictable, egotistical, megalomaniacal, and even a bit foolish. This one-sided portrayal detracts from the podcast’s potential as a profound exploration of a problematic business decision. While “Flipping the Bird” is undeniably captivating, it fails to provide a more nuanced perspective that could offer insights into Musk’s thoughts and motivations. Musk, as Redmond initially describes him, remains an interesting figure. It is regrettable that this podcast is solely focused on presenting Musk as a monster.
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